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Reds-Pirates Preview

Aug 23, 2009 - 4:50 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Cincinnati (51-70) at Pittsburgh (50-70), 1:35 p.m. EDT

Just last week, the Pittsburgh Pirates' offense was virtually nonexistent and the team was sputtering to another disappointing finish.

While the playoffs are still essentially out of the question, the Pirates are unexpectedly playing much better.

Led by a suddenly potent offense, Pittsburgh looks to extend its season-best winning streak to six games with a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds in Sunday's series finale at PNC Park.

After trading away the veteran core of their roster last month, the Pirates (51-70) appeared to be resigned to their major league-record 17th consecutive losing season. With their nucleus now comprised of several young players, the team doesn't seem in such a hurry to reach that dubious distinction.

The Pirates defeated the Reds 12-2 on Saturday to match their season-best five-game winning streak and move one-half game ahead of Cincinnati (51-71) at the bottom of the NL Central. Pittsburgh, which hasn't been to the postseason since 1992, had been in last place in the NL Central every day since June 19.

Strong offense has keyed the sudden resurgence.

The Pirates matched their season high in scoring Saturday, and have plated 34 runs during their winning streak after scoring four total runs in losing their previous four games. Pittsburgh had dropped 17 of 20 prior to this run, totaling 34 runs in the 17 losses.

Ryan Doumit homered, doubled and drove in three runs for the Pirates on Saturday, while outfielder Garrett Jones was 3 for 5 with three RBIs. Jones, who had a three-run homer in Friday's 5-2 win, is batting .421 with two home runs and eight RBIs during the winning streak.

"We've been building toward this," manager John Russell told the Pirates' official Web site. "You've seen some progress. You've seen some things start to go our way a little bit. The hard work is paying off. We can't stop now. Now we really need to make a strong push."

Pittsburgh, which hasn't won six straight games since May 6-12, 2008, now tries to sweep consecutive opponents for the first time since taking three games from St. Louis and four from Milwaukee from June 28-July 4, 2004.

While the Pirates are getting things turned around, Cincinnati's struggles continue.

The Reds have dropped seven of eight and are a major league-worst 7-24 since July 20.

Cleanup hitter Brandon Phillips doubled and scored Saturday, but is still batting .152 with four RBIs and three runs in his last 10 games.

It won't be easy for the Reds to win the finale, as they've had little success with Homer Bailey (2-4, 7.53 ERA) on the mound, losing eight of his 11 starts.

Bailey gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings of an 8-5, 10-inning loss to San Francisco on Tuesday. It marked the fifth time in seven starts the 23-year-old right-hander yielded at least five runs.

This will be Bailey's first career start against the Pirates, who counter with Kevin Hart (4-2, 4.00).

Hart allowed four runs and nine hits - including two homers - in six innings of a 9-5 win over the Brewers on Monday. It was his first victory in three starts since the Pirates acquired him from the Chicago Cubs on July 30.

The right-hander defeated the Reds while with the Cubs, giving up one run and five hits in six innings of a 5-3 win July 25.